A roundup on Manchester United news for the day:
West Brom have rejected a 2.5 mil bid for Kuszczak – the third bid made by United for the keeper (so the rumours of an extortionary 4 mil bid were false …. surprised?). The Baggies want Rossi on loan, and that’s not happening so either we put up 3 mil (or maybe even 4), or we keep Ben Foster at United.
It makes sense to send out both Foster and Rossi on loans to get them the necessary experience (we’ve done that with Pique, who’s off to Real Zaragoza for a season), but it all comes down to the money United have – if we can bring in a striker and Kuszczak after bringing in Senna (who seems to be close to a move to Man Utd), then these two will go out.
Who would be the striker though? Not a Juve player, not Torres or Tevez either, so it might be someone from within the Premiership. No, I don’t know who it will be, but the Kuyt and Tevez rumours are BS, just as the Torres rumours were (his agent and the club say on record that United have not approached them regarding Torres).
Senna – what good can you say about a 30-year old holding midfielder who reminds you of Gravesen and looks like a squad player more than a first-teamer? For starters, he gives us a proven, quality ball-winner in midfield to balance Carrick and Ronaldo. He will also protect the back four and give the rest of the front 6 a chance to bomb forward and create scoring opportunities. He will be especially vital in the Champions League, a competition that we MUST progress in. Reports say that he’s available for around 5 mil, probably less, so that’s good too.
The bad news is, he’s slow, and he’s old. In two years we’ll be looking for another box-to-box midfielder to fill the gap, and if the young David Jones and Lee Martin have not turned into Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, we’re left looking at another big buy.
If Senna comes, it will be a good buy given our current circumstances, but not something I would be too happy with.
Tomorrow, we take on Porto in Amsterdam and we’ll be seeing Mr Carrick for the first time in United colours. Match review, clips and a long rant will be up Saturday morning.
Fergie’s finally told people that Ruud’s attitude after being dropped for the Carling Cup final was not good and that is what led to his departure. Funny how it was Fergie who dropped Ruud cold (instead of rotating the three strikers) and then says that it was Ruud who was at fault. The old man has his share of problems 🙂
Stam‘s recent interview (in which he mentions Ferguson) talks about how he was kicked out of Old Trafford because he mentioned in his autobiography that United were illegally making contact with players before talking to the clubs. Stam gives his own example as being one such player. So what’s a United fan going to say to that?
It’s easy to take one side and say that Stam is lying, but that’s not rational. It’s also fairly easy to say that ‘because other clubs do it, we can as well’. The fact is, this is just one of the dirty aspects of football – it is ridiculously easy to contact players and this will continue to be done by clubs who are willing to go the extra mile. Do we want to eradicate this from football?
That’s like asking – should the world be run on an honour code?
Are we talking about practical solutions or those that we just wish could happen?
Another debate for another time.
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